Feasibility of exhausted sugar beet pulp as raw material for lactic acid production

Exhausted sugar beet pulp pellets (ESBPP), a sugar industry by-product generated after sugar extraction in the sugar production process, have been used as a raw material for lactic acid (LA) production via hydrolysis and fermentation by Lactobacillus casei. To design a more cost-effective process, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of ESBPP is proposed in the present study. The effects of pH control, nutrient supplementation and solid addition in fed-batch SSF on lactic acid production were investigated.

The highest LA concentration (26.88 g L^-1 ) was reached in fed-batch SSF at a solid/liquid loading of 0.2 g mL^-1 , with pH control (by adding 30 g L^-1 CaCO₃ to the medium) and nutrient supplementation (by adding 20 mL of MRS medium per 100 mL of buffer). Under these conditions, a maximum productivity of 0.63 g L^-1 h^-1 was achieved, which is 2.7 times higher than that attained in the control experiment (SSF inoculated at time 0 h). However, a slightly lower LA yield was obtained, revealing the need of an increasing dose of enzymes at high solid loading SSF.

An efficient fed-batch SSF strategy with pH control and MRS supplementation is described in the present study, attaining higher LA productivity compared to separate hydrolysis and fermentation and SSF. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.